Health
Something soft under the skin, a pink button on the eyelid, a swelling that has grown since Easter. You cannot identify any of them by touch. The needle can.
Caution. A hot, red, painful lump that came up overnight, a lump that bleeds or grows week on week, several swollen lymph nodes in a tired dog, or a swelling in the mouth: get a same-day appointment with your own vet.
Do not look for the answer in a Facebook group, on TikTok or on a forum. Look for someone trained for this: your dog's own veterinarian, the only person who can examine, investigate and treat them.
Use this page to know what to observe, what to note and what to ask at the appointment, not to treat at home. If you still have doubts after a consultation, ask another vet or a specialist (dermatologist, internist) for a second opinion, not a group. And if you do not have a regular vet yet, find one now, while your dog is healthy: how to choose a veterinary clinic.
You are on the sofa, scratching his ribs, and your fingers find something soft under the skin, about the size of a walnut. It was not there last month. Or your nine-year-old Boxer has a reddish lump on his thigh that has grown noticeably since Easter. Or the year-old pup has a pink button on his eyelid. All three count as lumps, and you cannot identify any of them by eye or by touch. Neither can your vet. The answer comes from a fine needle and a microscope. Until then, your job is to measure, photograph, and know when a lump has stopped being a routine appointment.
Most lumps can wait for an ordinary appointment that week. A few cannot:
On the phone, say where the lump is, when you first noticed it and how big it is. Compare it with something everyone knows: a pea, a cherry, a walnut. Say whether it has changed. If the practice takes photos, send one.
You measure and keep track; the vet does the interpreting. You need a ruler or a cheap set of callipers, your phone and a notebook.
Draw a rough dog on a sheet of paper, left side and right side. Every lump gets a cross, a date and a size in millimetres. At the next check you can see straight away what is new and what has grown. Take photos in daylight with the ruler next to the lump so the size shows.
Measure in two directions and write both numbers down. "Walnut-sized" means something different to everyone; 23 by 18 mm means the same to all of us. Measure again in a month unless your vet gives you a different interval.
Then note how it feels. Soft or firm? Does it slide freely under the skin like a marble in a pocket, or is it stuck to whatever is underneath? Is it in the skin (raising it, with or without hair on top) or under the skin (the skin moves over it)? Is it warm? Does the dog pull away when you touch it?
The skin over it can be normal, red, hairless, ulcerated, scabbed or black. Sometimes there is a pore in the middle that lets out something white and pasty.
Learn where they are while your dog is healthy: under the angle of the jaw, in front of the shoulder, behind the knee, in the groin. In a healthy dog they are small and hard to find. If they feel like grapes or bigger, write it down.
Once a month, when he is relaxed, run your hands over all of him. Head, neck, chest, belly, each leg down to between the toes, under the tail, and the mammary glands on a bitch. Finish by lifting his lips and looking in his mouth. It takes three minutes. Small lumps get found during careful stroking, rarely at bath time.
Breed matters: Boxers, Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Bulldogs and German Shepherds each have their own more common tumours. Note his age, whether he is neutered and when, whether he has had a vaccine or an injection in that exact spot recently, whether he has been in a scrap, and whether he keeps licking the area.
| What you see | Commonly seen in | What it might be |
|---|---|---|
| Soft, mobile, under the skin, slow-growing, not painful | Adults and seniors, more often overweight dogs | Lipoma (fat); still confirmed with a needle, because some tumours look the same |
| Smooth pink hairless button that came up quickly, on the head or a leg | Dogs under 3 | Histiocytoma; usually regresses on its own within a few months, once the needle has confirmed it |
| Small lump in the skin with a pore that lets out white paste, or a "wart" on an old dog | Adults, seniors | Cyst or benign tumour of the skin glands |
| Whitish cauliflower-like growth in the mouth or on the lips | Puppies and young dogs | Viral papilloma; usually clears up on its own |
| Hot, painful, red, came up overnight, dog subdued | Any dog, after a fight or a sting | Abscess |
| Any appearance; red, itchy, swells and shrinks | Adults; Boxers, Bulldogs, Labradors | Mast cell tumour, the most common malignant skin tumour in dogs and the best at disguising itself |
| Firm, fixed to the tissue below, slow-growing, on the body or a leg | Adults, seniors, large breeds | Soft tissue sarcoma |
| Along the mammary chain, one or several | Unspayed bitches or bitches spayed late | Mammary tumours; about half are malignant |
| Several enlarged lymph nodes at once, tired dog | Middle-aged adults | Lymphoma |
| Ear flap puffed up like a cushion, soft | After a lot of head shaking | Aural haematoma |
| Small grey-brown lump with "legs" | Any dog, after long grass | Tick; mistaken for a lump more often than you would think |
The table gives you the words to use with your vet. The needle gives the diagnosis: two lumps that look identical can be fat in one case and a tumour that needs surgery with wide margins in the other.
Before you leave the consulting room, make sure you know three things: what the needle showed, whether the tissue is going to histopathology, and when you are coming back.
Keep the histopathology report in his file with the date and the location. If it was malignant, ask which checks come next and how often, and put them in your diary there and then. Photograph the scar after a month and again at every check. Local recurrence tends to show up along the edge of the scar, and an old photo catches it sooner than your memory will.
Most lumps found on dogs are benign. The rule is the same for all of them: needle first, decisions after. We do our monthly once-over on nail-clipping day, which is the easiest way not to forget it. If you do not have a regular vet yet, our page on related services will help you choose a practice.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer. The answers are a guide only: the decision belongs to your dog's own vet, after an examination.
The lipoma itself is not dangerous. It is a lump of fat inside a capsule, benign, and common in adult and overweight dogs. The trouble is that by touch you cannot tell it apart from some malignant tumours, which look and feel the same. Once the needle confirms it is a lipoma, you measure it monthly and only have it removed if it grows somewhere that gets in the way of movement.
It can look like anything: soft or firm, in the skin or under it, hairy or bald, red or skin-coloured. A mast cell tumour, the most common malignant skin tumour in dogs, can pass for a lipoma or for an insect bite. Your vet does not go by appearance. The fine-needle aspirate decides, followed by a biopsy if needed.
Not at home, and your vet cannot tell just by feeling it either. Someone has to look at the cells: a fine-needle aspirate, a minute's work with no anaesthetic, and a biopsy sent for histopathology if the needle leaves questions. Book sooner if the lump grows visibly within weeks, bleeds, changes size from day to day, the lymph nodes are big or the dog is losing weight.
Most often an abscess after a bite or a sting, an insect bite, a haematoma after a knock, or a tick attached to the skin. If it is hot, red, painful and the dog is subdued, call today. A tick comes out with a tick hook, as close to the skin as you can get, without squashing it. Take a photo on day one so you have something to compare against.
Not necessarily. A lipoma confirmed by aspirate that grows slowly and causes no trouble stays put and gets measured every month. It comes off when it grows fast, when it sits in the armpit, on the chest or between the legs and changes the way he moves, or when your vet wants it sent for histopathology because the needle left some doubt. The surgery is usually simple, but it is still an anaesthetic.
The information on this page is educational and does not replace an examination. For full details and a diagnosis, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
A paw on tiptoe after training, slow to get up in the morning, a leg held in the air. Three levels of urgency, and none of them is fixed with a pill from your cupboard.
Tufts on the sofa are one thing. Round patches, bald flanks or a dog scratching himself raw are something else. Here is how to tell them apart.
Claws on the belly at midnight, paws licked red, an ear infection every summer. Behind the word "allergy" sit at least three diseases, each with its own plan.
He paces at night, stands with his nose in a corner, waits at the wrong side of the door, wees indoors. Some of it is age. Some of it can be treated.
We work with your dog's behaviour, not its health. For any sign described here, book an appointment with your own vet; the related services page explains how to choose a clinic.